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Japan’s nuclear experiment sails off into the sunset

By
MICHAEL CROSS in
TOKYO

THE REACTOR in Japan’s first and only nuclear-powered ship, the Mutsu,
went critical for the first time last week in preparation for a maiden voyage
delayed by 16 years. The ship, originally built as a prototype for a whole
generation of nuclear-powered craft, will go to sea later this year for
a year-long voyage before heading for the breakers’ yard. By then, the whole
experiment will have cost 117 billion yen (Pounds sterling 470 million).

The Mutsu first put to sea in 1974 and began to leak radiation when
its crew brought the pressurised-water reactor up to 1.4 per cent of full
capacity, though engineers shut down the reactor before contamination became
serious. The Mutsu then drifted for 45 days while the crew improvised repairs
and the government tried to persuade harbour authorities throughout the
whole of Japan to allow the ship to berth.

The ship has spent most of the past 16 years in a purpose-built harbour
at Sekinehama, at the northern tip of Japan’s main island of Honshu. The
Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, run by the country’s Science and
Technology Agency, has spent 12.5 billion yen servicing the reactor and
adding more shielding.

Last week’s test began at seven in the morning. Around 100 crew members
and officials, who had gathered in the control room, applauded as the first
four control rods were removed from the reactor, which went critical for
eight hours. The tests went smoothly on the first day, but persistent problems
prevented start-up on the subsequent three days. The Science and Technology
Agency is making the best of the fiasco by saying the experiment tests techniques
for reviving long-dormant reactors.

Anti-nuclear feeling continues to run high in Japan. On 15 March a Tokyo
fireman died in an arson attack on the headquarters of the Power Reactor
and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation, a government-run body coordinating
advanced nuclear projects, including a plant to recycle fuel near the Mutsu’s
home port.